Halvor Egner Granerud celebrates like Erling Haaland after his 16th ski jumping World Cup victory
Halvor Egner Granerud, the Norwegian ski jumper, claimed his 16th ski jumping World Cup victory. The event was held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. After emerging victorious, Halvor celebrated like his fellow countryman and Manchester City striker Erling Haaland.
The celebration is like pretending to meditate. Erling Haaland does the celebration after scoring a goal. Halvor Egner was in fantastic form as he claimed victory by defeating Slovenia's Anze Lanisek.
However, the Norwegian ski jumper had a very narrow lead over his fellow competitor Anze at the end of round one. Halvor was awarded 148.5 points whereas Anze was just behind him with 147.9 points. The Norwegian would have definitely felt the pressure from Lanisek.
But despite tough competition from Anze, Halvor Egner made a better second jump of 142.0m. This was the biggest jump of the day. This was Granerud's second victory in the Four Hills Tournament, which is a part of the 2022-23 FIS Ski Jumping World Cup.
After his victory, he explained his celebration to the Federation of International Skiing (FIS) according to the official website of the Olympics. Granerud said,
"Two years ago, I was in really good shape here in Garmisch and I thought I'd make a celebration like Haaland in honor of him - because he was kind of the king in Germany at the time. But Dawid (Kubacki) took the hill record in the final round and I came second. So I've been waiting for a moment to do that celebration since."
He further spoke about his victory in the Garmisch-Partenkirchen, and reckoned:
"It's been an amazing start to the New Year. Three good jumps, the first one in the trial round was insane and the two in the competition were really really good as well."
The Norwegian ski jumper stated that his jump in the trial round was insane. Halvor Egner scored a total of 303.7 points as he scored 148.5 and 155.2 in Rounds One and Two of the competition. Slovenia Anze scored a total of 297.3 points. He scored 147.9 in round one and 149.4 in round two.
In third place was Poland's Dawid Kubacki with a total of 294.4 points, followed by Austria's Manuel Fettner in fourth place, who scored a total of 279.6 points. Germany's Markus Eisenbichler and Slovenia's Peter Prevc (four-time Olympic medallist) didn't make it past the first round.
According to the official website of the Olympics, Beijing Olympics Large Hill Champion Marius Lindvik of Norway was disqualified for a suit-size infringement. On December 29, 2022, the first leg of the Four Hills Tournament was held in Oberstdorf.
Halvor Egner Granerud was victorious in the Oberstdorf leg of the Four Hills Tournament as well. He scored a total of 312.4 points. The second place was claimed by Piotr Zyla of Poland who scored a total of 299.0 points.
In the overall standings, Granerud leads the list with a massive 616.1 points. Poland's Dawid Kubacki is in second place with 589.3 points, followed by his fellow countryman Piotr Zyla, in third place with 576.0 points.
Two more events are pending in the Four Hills Tournament, and both of those events will be held in Austria. One in Innsbruck and the other in Bischofshofen.
The Top Ten from Men's Ski Jumping in Garmisch-Partenkirchen
The Top Ten men's ski jumpers from the event in Garmisch-Partenkirchen have been attached below. The top ten as posted on the official FIS website.
- Halvor Egner Granerud (NOR) 303.7
- Anze Lanisek (SLO) 297.3
- Dawid Kubacki (POL) 294.4
- Manuel Fettner (AUT) 279.6
- Jan Hoerl (AUT) 278.9
- Piotr Zyla (POL) 277.0
- Daniel Tschofenig (AUT) 275.4
- Andreas Wellinger (GER) 273.1
- Kamil Stoch (POL) 272.7
- Michael Hayboeck (AUT) 269.8
The third event of the Four Hills Tournament will be held in Innsbruck with Qualification rounds on January 3, 2023, and the finals on January 4, 2023.